Sustainability of Rice Business in Flood-Prone Areas

Rice issues are strategically important given that food sovereignty is one of the government’s strategic plans. The supply chain of rice is a complex system involving many interacting stakeholders. This study aims to analyse the rice supply chain in flood-prone areas, the level of rice business vulnerability to flooding, and the institutional competitiveness in the rice supply chain to improve food security. This study applied a mixed-method approach. The population of this research was business operators in the rice supply chain in the flood-prone areas of Klaten Regency, Indonesia. This study utilized primary data, which were collected using the method of direct interviews with business actors, supported by a list of questions and focus group discussions. The analytical tools used in this study were supply chain analysis, business vulnerability index, and stakeholder analysis. The results show that the rice supply chain consisted of farmers and rice fellers, collectors, rice mills, wholesalers, retailers and, finally, consumers. The vulnerability of companies in the rice supply chain was in the category of moderate. Stakeholders in the rice supply chain had diverse objectives, where the two most substantial goals were building reputation and earning income. Rice mill, Department of Agriculture, Food Security and Fisheries, and community are the main stakeholders in realizing food security because they have high interests and influence. The implication is that these three stakeholders must be the main actors in the development of regional food security.

Supply and Value Chain Models in Cattle Marketing and Its Derivative Products in East Nusa Tenggara Province

In general, the determination of the price of cattle is based on the condition of the cattle's body. This will result in an unsatisfactory transfer of revenue value for farmers, because the bargaining position is still weak. In addition, transactions in the marketing chain of beef products and their by-products have not yet been solidly established, so the obligations and rights of some parties are not guaranteed. The objective was to analyze the role of stakeholders in each supply chain and distribution of value chains as revenue in the marketing transactions of cattle, beef, and derivative products. The study was conducted in West Timor, which has 85.0% of the cattle population in NTT. Four sample districts (Kupang, TTS, TTU and Belu) in 8 sample sub-districts or 16 sample villages were included in the study. Respondents in marketing activities consisted of farmers, village traders, sub-district/district traders, slaughter traders, inter-island traders, by-product/waste traders, as well as beef, cowhide, bone, and fat/blood processing industries. Data collection were conducted by a questionnaire-based interview. The data were analyzed descriptively-quantitatively with a supply chain analysis model. It canbe concluded that (1) Market supply chains include cattle traders (farmers, village traders, sub-district traders, inter-island traders and slaughtering traders), as well as beef traders (fresh beef retailers, frozen beef exporting traders, and processed beef products traders); (2) The ideal model of the value chain in the form of revenue share from marketing of cattle, beef, processed beef products, by-products, and cattle waste has not been fully established in NTT; (3) The ideal model includes five marketing blocks (cattle block, beef block, processed beef block, by-product block, and waste block).

Economic Value and Supply Chain Analysis of Palmyra (Borassus flabellifer) and its Products

The main focus of this study is the cultivation and marketing of palmyra and its value-added products in the Thoothukudi district of southern Tamil Nadu. The supply chain of palmyra products is represented in a block diagram that explains the complete marketing channel through which products move from farm to the ultimate consumer. The accumulative added value per tree gives the benefits of palmyra growing and its value addition. According to the findings, the highest profit was shared by farmer cum processors (31.33%) followed by wholesalers (21.58%) for palm sugar, and for palm, jaggery wholesalers had the maximum profit (28.86%) followed by the marketing cooperatives (28.47%). Base on the accumulated added value the payback period of the palmyra tree is the 12th year and the lifetime added value per tree can reach up to Rs. 36000 during the peak period from 41 to 60 years of its age. Growing palmyra has the feasibility of giving more income and strengthening the marketing channel by reducing the intermediaries can give additional income to the farmers in the consumer price.

Developing a Supply Chain Modeling Approach to Facilitate Ecology-Inspired Design for Sustainability and Resilience

Supply chain policies and design efforts are traditionally focused on efficiency objectives such as reducing operational costs. With the occurrence of the most devastating pandemic in decades and the continually increasing prevalence of natural disasters, this focus has been challenged, and the need to focus on supply chain resilience has become apparent. Achieving long-lasting sustainable development in supply chains requires a balance of efficiency-focused measures that enhance economic and environmental sustainability and resiliency measures. Ecological Network Analysis has revealed a unique balance between pathway efficiency and redundancy in ecosystems’ network architecture. This enables both efficient operations under normal circumstances and resilience to perturbations. This same analysis can be used to evaluate the balance of sustainability and resilience in supply chain networks, providing insights into what kind of supply chain design and policy decisions lead to more ecosystem-like architectures. This study lays the groundwork for such efforts by studying four supply chain topologies (formed by prevalent supply chain strategies) using ENA. Inventory (storage) is not well understood in the typical flow analysis used in ENA but is an essential facet of supply chain design and must be included in a supply chain analysis. This study overcomes this limitation by proposing a method to include inventory in the ENA framework. The analysis conducted revealed two significant insights: (a) the agile supply chain strategy is the most ecologically similar and (b) it is possible that there are optimal inventory levels (given partnership strategies) to utilize bio-inspiration in supply chain design.

Agricultural Supply Chain Analysis During Supply Chain Disruptions: Case of Teff Commodity Supply Chain in Ethiopia in the era of COVID-19

Current state agricultural supply chain analysis for essential commodities like Teff in Ethiopia is necessary to avoid supply chain disruption caused by events like COVID 19. The objective of this study is to assess the effect of COVID-19 on the agriculture and food sector. It has taken into account both qualitative and quantitative mixed approaches. The study has been conducted to analyze the resilient teff value chain across teff supply chain members from production to consumption by comparing two production areas in Ethiopia. Cross-sectional descriptive surveys at different stages of the supply chain are identified. Data collection has been made based on the purposive sampling technique. It has then, analyzed the data and reach on conclusion. The findings revealed that wealth was not accumulated by farmers to create a sustainable supply of Teff to the consumers which is not enough to respond to the demand gap created in the event of supply chain disruption. Teff value chain analysis also indicated that consumers have low price expectations of Teff regardless of its high price at the retail shop. Since March 2020 Due to COVID 19 prevalence in Ethiopia, lockdown that disrupts goods and people move from rural to urban has resulted in a sharp Teff price increase from an average of 4200 per Quintal to 5000 Birr per Quintal in just one month at the retail shop. This has significantly benefited downstream supply chain members like wholesalers and retailers by hoarding Teff supply to consumers until regulatory bodies took action on price hikes by retailers. Finally, recommendations have been forwarded among the others include: to enlarge subsidies for Ethiopian farmers to boost agricultural production, hedge farmers against price fluctuation and avail warehouses for stocking agricultural commodities to buffer against future uncertainties are the major ones that the government has to apply.